AVOLA

Avola,
in the province of Siracusa, managed to revive after the terrible
earthquake that in 1693 destroyed all the south-eastern side of
Sicily. It was rebuilt on a modern grid of perpendicular street
within an exagonal perimeter. A large and square piazza with nearby
minor ones marks the heart of town, according to the typical Renaissance
design.

The
new Avola developed around the Monte Aquilone district, the site
of the ancient city, and stretches to the plain and the coast, these
miraculously left undamaged by the nature disaster. The reconstruction
was much fostered by the Prince Nicolò Aragona Pignatelli,
Duke of Terranova.

Visitors
can enjoy several fine churches begin with the Chiesa Madre dedicated
to San Nicola di Bari. Its frontage is graced with panels representing
the Seven Sacrements. The façade, is so-called a torre (towered)
because it is divided into three tiers. The courtyard is embellished
with some statues representing Saints. The interior is divided into
three naves with chapels, and is ornamented with fine pieces of
art such as the painting depicting the Sposalizio della Madonna
attributed to Olivo Sozzi.

The
three-naves Chiesa di San Giovanni Battista, recently restored,
is ornamented with neo-Classical stuccoes and precious paintings
dedicated to the Baptist’s Martyrdom by Gregorio Scalia. In
the aisles are fine paintings depicting scenes from the life of
San Corrado Confalonieri.

Avola’s
most attractive secular buildings include the Palazzo Ducale, near
the Mother Church, flanked by a 1800’s clock-tower, and the
1800’s Palazzo di Città.

The
site of Avola Antica, the ancient city, in the Monte Aquilone district,
is of historical interest, with the ruins of the medieval city and
features that testify to the existence of prehistoric settlements
at the site.

A
well-known naturalistic spot stands few kilometres off town, the
Cava Grande del Cassibile, consisting of a natural huge gorge stretching
across the Iblaean plateau to the coast. The valley at the bottom
of the Cava, being amongst the largest in the Iblean area, is enclosed
by steep walls. It preserves numerous cave-tombs forming part of
the Cassibile necropolis ranging in date from the 11th to the 9th
century BC and two cave-settlements. One of these, on the northern
side, can be reached following a trail traced by the shepherds,
starting at the Cassibile river. Several spiral staircases carved
into the rock along the trail are pretty interesting. The southern
settlement, larger, and already visible from the top of the Cava,
is also very charming.

The
Cava is divided into three main zones and provides incredible naturalistic
spots featuring grottoes, springs of water and a richest Mediterranean
vegetation comprising orchids of multiple shapes and colors, plane-trees,
oleanders and spurges.